Standing on border
by mist shadow
Summary: SGC found a text they couldn't translate. They searched for a linguist that could. And Kurosaki Ichigo, a former substitute Shinigami/Reaper, was stuck between keeping the worlds of Spirits and Living separate. Xover SG1/Bleach. Sometimes knowing Urahara is so not worth it
1. prologue

-Yare, yare, this might pose a problem, - a blond man wearing a green stripped hat muttered to himself, while looking at a text displayed on a computer screen. - Hmm, on the other hand, this might just prove an interesting experiment.

A sly smile curled the lips, and a sudden sparkle the man's eyes was hidden by the hat's shadow.

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><p>XXXX<p>

-General, we might have found us a translator, sir.

The proclamation was met with some raised brows and sceptic looks around the table.

-I mean, the linguist team had a problem with the text that we recovered from the ... Anyway, we couldn't relate to any existing language in the database, so the linguists decided to send out a small piece of text to scientists who have a clearance. Not the Stargate clearance obviously, but high enough. Several came back, but only one came back with a translation and a remark that the text was not complete, and that we were positioning it wrong.

-So, what's the big deal? - a Colonel at the table asked a question everyone at the table was thinking.

-Well, the language was similar to the language of the Ancients, but that was proven wrong when on translation it gave back gibberish.

-So? In simple terms, Jonas.

-We might have found a leftovers of a race that was neigbors with the Ancients, and someone on Earth is profficient enough in the language to translate it with no problem.


	2. ch1, In Karakura

Note: This story is hopefully gonna be a short one, only a couple of weeks, as Ichigo is supposed to be going to SG1 for the spring break only. The Idea is not disclosing both worlds to each other, but more like skimming on the edges. So to that end, i will be quite vague on the going ons and history of both worlds, while trying to give the main highlights for those people not familiar with either of the shows. Also, to that end I'll try to minimize the names I would give out. Please let me know, if I am being too vague or too specific.

The ideas about the languages is my idea, the show never says anything about it, but they do use Japanese, Spanish and German names for attacks and the like. So I'm taking this a bit more. After all, if all the souls go to the same after life, they have to understand each other, right?

Disclaimer: Don't own. Except copies of all the episodes and movies of both shows, and manga on Bleach

Kurosaki Ichigo was having a pretty normal day. Well, normal for 16, almost 17-years old japanese teenager living in small town. Looking at him, one would see a lean and fit body, bright orange hair and a semi-permanent scowl, and a smile on his lips when he was laughing with his friends, a truly colorful bunch at that. Looking into his eyes, one would see a determined glint of a young man full of fire, with a trace of past hurts and hardships, but still looking out at the world with humor and occasional melancholy, that tried to hide from his friends and even from himself. Also, people seeing him for the first time, might put him into the 'delinquet' category because of his unruly hair with truly startling color among the more customary black of those of Japanese descend. He also had truly formidable relexes and battle prowess, but that was not that suprising considering he went to karate classes as a kid, had a friend of Mexican descend who was built like a brick and looked way older the 16 he was, another who was a formidable archer and scary smart to boot, and a childhood friend who went to karate with him and currently help 2nd place in World Championship among Women (only because she broke her hand before the final match). And considering how many fights he got into because of his looks, hair, simply because gangs were picking fights and all the times he protected ghosts...

Yes, you heard it right. You see, Ichigo was one of the rare few who could see ghosts. Unfortunately, because of that less than a year ago, he and his friends got tangled up in a mess with Spirit Society, the place where all the souls went to after their Death. A mess that eventually deteriorated into a coup and a civil war. Fortunately, the good guys won, with Ichigo playing an important role in the whole confrontation. Unfortunately, as a result of the final battle and methods and techniques used during it, Ichigo fell into a coma for a month, and woke up to realize that all his power were gone, and he was unable to even see the ghosts any more. He knew that it would happen of course, and was ok with it, as long as the threat was neutralised. And he even got the chance to say goodbye to the people he made friends with at the Soul Society. And anyway, life went on, his friends were with him, and he started senior year in high school, determined to raise his grades at least to a respectable level, since they dropped dramatically in the second part of his junior years due to him running around all over the place trying to save the world, and as a result missing a lot of school.

So, it was understandably a great suprise when he received a summons from Urahara Kisuke, his mentor, an exile Shinigami1 from Soul Society for framed crimes, a crazy genius inventor and experimentator of questionable nature. Especially considering Ichigo lost his Shinigami powers and couldn't see the ghosts and spirits anymore, and therefore couldn't help out his friends with hunting and exterminating an occasional Hollow2 - a soul that couldn't move on and eventually turned into a malisious, ever-hungry monster, that hunted and ate souls starting with their loved ones, to fill the hollow feeling inside. The Hollows were identifiable by a bone white mask and a hole in their bodies, and varied in shape and abilities.

Though Ichigo was grateful the summons were received by such a mundane and normal means as a phone call, and not in a usual Urahara style. He still shuddered every time he remembered a football sized ball flying past him to splatter on the wall of his room to leave a message in what disconcertingly resembled blood.

With a small feeling of trepidation Ichigo walked to Urahara shoten, a small shop (mostly of candy) that Urahara owned and shared with three other people.

-"Yo, Hat-n-Clogs, you in?"

- "C-mon in, Kurosaki-kun,"- came from somwehre inside. Urahara was sitting in the room they usually held meetings in, though the small table in the middle of the room was practically buried under several stacks of paper. Urahara looked to be in his thirties, maybe forties, wearing a simple green shirt and pants with a black jacket with a diamond pattern along the edges and wooden sandals on his feet. His cane was lying on the ground next to him, and his green stripped hat was on his head as usual, shadowing his eyes.

-"What did you call me here for?"

-"Maa, maa, don't be so impatient Kurosaki-kun. Help me out a bit with this, and then we can come to the business why I called you."

Ichigo huffed, but seeing no way out of it, and even more delay if he put up a fuss, so he dropped his stuff in the corner of the room,- "So, what do I need to do?"

-"Hmm, oh, pick some folders on that shelf over there,"- Urahara haphazardly showed to a side with a bookshelf with books, and folders and other knick knacks, -"and sort the papers from here into them." -He patted a few stacks next to him on the floor. -"If there's no matching Folder tag, just write it up and sort it. The names should be written on the top or bottom of the pages, and try to keep them in order, ne? Oh, and if you finish before I am through with these, take any stack on the table marked with blue and make copies of it, and then sort them as usual. Oh, and make sure that you have two folders of the files marked with blue with same files inside, I'm making copies for Soul Society archive to pass on."

-"Wouldn't it be easier to print them out in duplicate?"

-"Unfortunately, can't do that," - and Urahara went back to his papers without giving further explanations.

Ichigo scowled, but shrugged and went to work. 2 hours passed in this highly improbable and fantastical situation, with silence filled with pen scribbling, an occasionl mutter from Urahara, a question from Ichigo about this or that page or file or diagram. So, understandably, Ichigo jumped when Urahara's voice spoke right behind him, while he was a copying another text at the end of the 2 hours.

-"Ne, Kurosaki-kun, can you even understand what's written here?"

Ichigo scowled at Urahara.

-"Of course I can, except a few occasional scientific terms that I don't even try to decipher. This experiment data is disconcerting even without understanding fully what the hell is happening and what kind of measurements are taken."

The sly smile that bloomed on Urahara's face at those words, while he moved to his place on the other side of the table while letting his hat cover his eyes, put Ichigo instantly on alert and a cold feeling dropped in his stomach. That expression spelled trouble. Yes, Urahara was a friend, but he was a scientist first, and considering some of his 'lessons'. Ichigo shuddered.

-"Maa, maa,"- that annoying fan made an appearance, making a tick appear on Ichigo's brow. Before Ichigo could blow up and start shouting, Urahara dropped th fan and looked at Ichigo seriously, completely halting the boy in his tracks. - "You see, most of those documents are written in the Shinigami language, and the fact that you didn't notice confirms my theory."

Before Ichigo could process that revelation and wrap his head around him writing in a completely different language, Urahara asked him a complete inconsequential question:

-"Say, Kurosaki-kun, you speak English, right?"

Ichigo, still off balance with previous fact, could only nod and watch with growing uneasyness Urahar's smile getting wider.

-"What does that have to do with anything?"

-"You see, when Grimmjow kept targetting you, I started wondering why he picked you out of all the people present. Besides the wish to have a good fight, of course, as you were no match to him in the beginning,"- he added almost apologetically,-"It maid sense, when he searched yu out later, as you proved to be an interesting opponent, but before that. So I did some research."- Urahara cocked his head to the side, regarding Ichigo with some interest making the boy even more nervous, therefore earning himself a scowl. -"You see, turns out both of you were speaking English. American, to be precise."

Ichigo frowned even more: "I would've noticed, right?"

Urahara smiled his usual smile, making Ichigo wish to throttle or kick him.

-"Maa, maa, that's the interest part. You see, you well know that Yama-jii is over 2000 years old, but you had no problem understanding each other. Even in Hueco Mundo, you understood no problem all your opponents. But all the sould could not have been talking Japanese, right? Especially as Yama-jii is so old, so his language should be way too updated for you to comprehend. Never mind the written language. You had to operate or at least were close to few of our computers and you never noticed it was written in different symbols?" - Ichigo frowned, but had to admit that he saw the foreign symbols but never concentrated on that, as he usually had more pressing matters at hand.

-"So you see, this was my theory, that all you guys can understand the languages that the souls speak, not because the souls speak say Japanese, but because you start speaking same language as we, when you pass to Soul Society, so there's no language barrier. So, in other words, right now, you can easily speak several languages, including let's call it for now Shinigami and Hollow languages. Your American is probably much better now, you might speak passable Spanish and you might even kow some German, and bits and pieces of who knows how many languages. And that leads to the reason I called you here."

_That_ snapped Ichigo out of his contemplation and look suspiciously at Urahara, who in turn waved his fan as if dispersing his suspicions.

-"You have spring vacation in a couple of weeks, ne?"

-"Yes,"- Ichigo became even more suspicious if possible.

-"You see, a group of people came by a tablet with some text in the language that the Shinigami use, and as we now determined that you _can_ actually understand it, and even write in it, I want to send you to retrieve the texts, the copies are fine. You see the texts, copy them and send them to me, and if it's safe enough, translate it."

-"Safe enough?"

-"Oh, you know. If it's history, or description of what Hollows are, or what are the duties of the Shinigami and the like, it's ok. But if it's knowledge of how to open a Senkaimon3 or a Garganta4 or anything like that, then it's not. We don't want them dying trying to pass through a gate without transferring mass into energy after all5." And he smiled slyly, reminding Ichigo with the travels he and his friends had to undertake. He nodded.

-"Good good, so get ready to leave for Colorado Springs, US, as soon as your spring holidays start. I'll have your documnets and tickets ready. Oh, and you'll have to make sure to say nothing about everything that happened here last year. Humans are not supposed to know after all, and Soul Society is pretty strict about that. Wouldn't want assassins after you now, would we6?"

And with those parting words Ichigo was literaly shoved out of the shop.

Bewildered, Ichigo looked at the closed doors, then shook his head, scowled and went home. It was a loosing battle, trying to force somthing out of the slippery shop keeper.

-"Hmm, did I mention, they would pay him?"-Urahara wondered to himself, -"Maa, maa, no matter. I'll need to prepare..." - He went deeper into the shop muttering under his nose all the way.

Explanations:

1. Shinigami - japanese name for Soul Reapers

2. Hollow - a soul that couldn't move on and/or was obsessed with smth and stuck on the plane of existance. Eventually the Soul chain deteriorates, and the soul transforms into a malisious, ever-hungry monster, that hunts and eats other souls (starting with their loved ones). The Hollows were identifiable by a bone white mask and a hole in their bodies, vary in shape and abilities. There are several evolutions (no consequence for this story)

3. Senkaimon - a portal opened by Shinigami to travel to/from Soul Society. Usually looks like two sets of Japanese doors, an circular and behind it a rectangular one, that open one after another to allow the passage. A black butterfly (messenger) is usually seen on approved trips.

4. Garganta - a portal opened by the Hollows, looks like a rip in the sky.

5. Transfer of mass into energy - as Soul Society is literally the plane of the Dead, meaning everything is made out of energy, then for a human to travel there, their body has to be changed from physical mass into energy mass (kind of like ascension, for SG1 fans).

6. Soul Society is pretty strict with all evidence of their existence. They erase memories and if need be heal all the people caught in the crossfire of the battles while hunting Hollows.


	3. ch2, Arrival

**[Disclaimer] Don't own neither.**

**A/N: I don't know how often I'll be able to update this story, with studies and searching for job, but will try to update it once at a month at least. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 2. Arrival<strong>

Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill was standing at the Colorado Springs airport, waiting for the arrival of the promised linguist, wondering how he ended up with the job. Ah, yes, he pulled the short string on top of General Hammond and Janet Fraiser, the SGC Chief Medical Officer decided he needed a break, and some time away from Jonas Quinn, the guy he was blaming for the death of one of his best friends – Daniel Jackson. Well, technically Daniel didn't die, but in Jack's opinion joining the 'glow club', in other words Ascending, was equivalent. Therefore he was cranky and annoyed a common mood for him lately. And now this linguist. If they still had Danny-boy, they wouldn't need to invite some specialist in some obscure languages, the only thing they knew about was he was in his late 30s, named Kisuke Urahara and had a dubious sense of sense of style.

Jack's musings were interrupted by a bright mop of, honest to God, orange hair, moving determinedly towards him. With the crowd parting, Jack got his first full view of the owner of said hair – a teenager dressed in worn out purple jeans held up with two crisscrossing belts, snug white T-shirt and purple Vans on his feet. The teen had a silver chain on his neck, a few colorful bands on his right wrist and a modest watch on his left. He was also shouldering a backpack and rolling a middle sized suitcase. Overall, he looked like a typical American teenager in a rebellious state, albeit with Asian features, that were currently in a frown. Jack's observations halted when the guy walked up to him, parked the suitcase and extended his hand.

- Kurosaki.

- Excuse me? – _that_ threw O'Neill for a loop. The teenager scowled even more and pointed to the sign Jack was holding up with "Urahara" written on it.

- Hat-n-Clogs sent me in his stead, the lazy ass, - the last part was muttered under breath, and the boy's look turned truly murderous. Though Jack wasn't completely sure if it was 'lazy' or 'crazy'. He looked inquiringly at the kid (he still haven't managed that single brow raising he envied Teal'c, and raising both brows seemed so amateurish).

- Really? – Jack drawled.

- Aa. He didn't even explain what I'm supposed to be doing. Got me to copy some documents, jumped with joy and did his usual annoying fan fluttering, handed the tickets and cheerfully waived me off together with Goat-face.

That statement created some vivid images in Jack's mind, which he forcefully banished before they could get weird, by shaking his head and focusing on:

- Goat-face?

- Hmm? – The teen seemed lost in thought. - Oh, my old man. So, are we going?

- Gimme a min to confirm what you said, - Jack stated. After all, with what he was working for and with, it was always prudent to be on alert. The teen just shrugged, picked up his suitcase and moved to one of the empty chairs. He stretched his legs and gave a content sigh, before fishing out a cell phone from a side pocket of his backpack and dialing a number. Jack's observations of the teen halted, when his own phone, that he took out to call SGC, went off in his hand.

- O'Neill here.

- Sir, we got belated message that the Urahara person cannot make it, - came the voice of his CO Major Samantha "Sam" Carter. – So he sent his protégé. His name is…

- Kurosaki. Already met the kid.

- Sir? Yes, sir. We're running the checks on him now. It's going to take us so…

- URUSAI! – the sudden roar behind him made Jack jump and whirl around, body and mind going on defensive, even before it registered that the voice belonged to the orange headed teenager he was talking about with Carter. The said teenager was on his feet with some strange sounds coming from his phone. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, when there was a mighty crash and a different voice seemed to pick up the other end. The orange head's tone softened considerable and a smile played on his lips as his mood improved right before the onlookers eyes, and after a few more softly spoken sentences he hanged up. The teenager dropped back into his seat, ruffled his hair with a sigh and relaxed his pose without opening his eyes, a slight frown back on his face.

- Sir? Sir? – Jack became aware of Carter's frantic calls on his phone.

- Oh, sorry. Still here.

- What happened sir? I heard a loud commotion.

- Oh, nothing much. Though the kid sure does have a healthy set of lungs on him.

- Oh. Anyway, Urahara sent some general info on his protégé, and so far everything checks out, but General wants to run extensive checks just in case. Oh, and there was something interesting in the info provided on the kid.

- Which was? – Jack was quite curious, as it wasn't in Carter's usual behavior to beat around the bush. Well, if one didn't count her going into scientific mumbo-jumbo, of course.

- In his message, there was a side note, that if we needed a clearance for the kid, we need to notify Urahara to avoid raising red flags.

- Huh? – _that_ was curious.

- Precisely. What I got so far is that the kid got involved in something highly classified, so Urahara is supervising him in a sense.

- So, kid was in a wrong place at a wrong time, got roped in and now is under surveillance. Got it.

- Yes sir. So we follow the initial plan. We put him into the same hotel Urahara was scheduled to check in for now, as he said the number was already paid for. Depending on information we get on the translation we might move him to a secure location and get a clearance. But we avoid any mention of Stargate until then. If we will tell him anything at all.

- Got it. So, my place tonight? – this definitely called for the brain storm session to gather all the info on the new player.

- Sorry sir. General wants debrief at 1900. You're included.

- Dang it, this was my evening off. Will be there.

They hang up simultaneously. Jack sighed, and walked up to the kid, who opened his eyes when O'Neill was 2 steps away from the orange-head.

- Okay kid, grab your stuff and let's go.

The teen silently stood up, picked his bags and fell into step after the Colonel, which Jack filed away, as the teen seemed to fall into an almost military precision, which left him wondering what other surprises he and his team will come across. It seemed he had a puzzle to solve, which he hated. At least Carter will have something to do, and Teal'c would probably like the kid, with how stoic he was. After all, the frown on the teen's face seemed almost permanent.

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><p><strong>AN: Please read, review and give me ideas on what you want to see in this story. **

**Cheers.**


	4. ch3, Settling In

**[Disclaimer] don't own nothing, except the idea and tools needed to write and post the story.  
><strong>

**Ch.3 Settling In**

Kurosaki Ichigo was annoyed. Though he considered he should be thankful he had had enough forewarning to pack and get the homework he would need to turn in after the spring break for all the missed classes. And that was another breath of relieve – that he didn't need to miss more class, but could finish everything within the couple of weeks of holidays. Still, he was thrown head first into another dubious situation without proper explanation. He sighed, thankful that the long flight was finally over.

The meeting with the 'welcome committee' went as well as it could, he considered. The guy in his 40s with peppered hair and 'military' screaming in his pose even though he was dressed casually in jeans and t-shirt was holding up a paper with Urahara's name on it. Obviously, the man forgot to inform the guys on this side that he was sending a substitute in his place. Ichigo felt a tick forming on his forehead while he practically stalked up to the guy, who was observing him at that point.

"Kurosaki."

"Huh?" – the guy was obviously taken aback with his forwardness or his tone, and Ichigo barely held in the sigh at the confirmation that the crazy shopkeeper forgot to notify them of a change of plans and persons involved.

"Urahara sent me in his stead."

The guy was understandably suspicious and Ichigo was too tired to put up a fight, so he simply took the closest available seat and tried to relax and stretch his legs, cramped from the long haul. Then he remembered about his promise to his sisters to give them a call, as soon as he landed and fished out a mobile phone from a side pocket of his backpack. The phone was given to him by Urahara, who assured the teen that the mobile will have coverage wherever, and he wouldn't need to get a local provider. Actually, Urahara explained quite a few features of the phone, but Ichigo was not paying much attention, besides gathering that the phone will work no matter where the teen will find himself, he didn't need to pay outrageous international call bills, and he was pretty sure Urahara could trace him if he deemed it necessary. Ichigo was just thankful that some options, like tracing presence of Hollows was switched off, as Ichigo was not a Shinigami anymore and couldn't help out with their extermination first of all, and second, technically he was in a place with a different jurisdiction. This was a surprise, as he assumed that the Soul Society was the overall 'afterlife' place, but shrugged it off. After all Gotei 13 was not that big, and most people there were Japanese, so it made sense if they only took care of Japan. Ichigo didn't want to even try to comprehend how Huego Mundo, the Hell, and other dimensions actually fit in. It was, in other words, TMI and completely irrelevant to everyday life.

"Moshi Mosh," – came the cheerful voice of his little sister.

"Hey Yuzu. How are you guys?"

"YAA! Ichi-nii! Karin-chan, it's Ichi-nii! How are you? How was your flight?"

Ichigo chuckled at his sister's enthusiasm.

"The flight was fine, though very long. And I was met at the airport here."

"Did you meet any busty flight attendants? Oh, Masaki, our son is so grown up now,"- came his father, Isshin's gushing voice, -"Don't do anything I won't do!" – Ichigo swore he almost _felt_ the wink his dad gave at those words, making him go beet red and only sputter at the nonsense his dad was spewing in his usual manner. – "Oh, Masaki, our son is going to be corrupted by that land and bring…"

"URUSAI!" – he finally got out at the top of his lungs, mortified by the implications and insinuations.

"Ah, Masaki! Our son is shouting at me! That land is corrupting him as we speak! Oh, what will I…" – Isshin's voice was halted mid-rant by a sound of a mighty crash followed by his whine in the background, as his sister Karin picked up the phone cradle after kicking their father.

"Hey, onii-san, ignore the Goat-Face. Glad to hear you arrived fine. Keep in touch or I will kick you into next week for making Yuzu worry. Got it?"

"Hai, hai." Ichigo smiled at his sister's usual tough talk, not admitting that she was equally worried, but taking it more in stride, as the more 'mature' twin. –"Keep the Goat face in check and hold the ford while I'm away. I'll call again tomorrow morning after I settle down properly."

"Hai. Be safe Onii-san."

"Bye, Ichi-nii." Came Yuzu's voice.

"Yeah, bye," – he closed the phone with a smile and sat back, waiting for his escort to finish his own call.

It was a few minutes later when he felt someone approach him. Opening his eyes he confirmed it was his escort. He absent-mindedly picked up his stuff to follow the man.

"So, kid," – the man started as soon as they were on a highway, making Ichigo scowl in irritation at being addressed that way.

"It's Kurosaki Ichigo, and I'm not a kid, I'm 16," – it sounded grumpy and scathing even in his own ears, but after dealing with his friends and family and then suffering the long flight had tired him out. Moreover, taking into consideration what role he played in the Winter War, the address reminded him too much of Byakuya and old man Yamamoto with their holier-than-though attitudes. –"And you didn't introduce yourself." – He added as an afterthought.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, with double 'l', from USAF," – Jack said a bit sheepishly, realizing that the teenager was correct, he forgot to give his name, sidetracked by the need to check the kid's credentials. – "You can call me Jack. Or O'Neill."

"Ichigo is fine," – came the short-clipped answer, the orange-head looking out the window of the car at the passing landscapes. Jack nodded in acceptance, even though the teen couldn't see it.

"So… who you were shouting at? That was awfully loud."

"The Goat Face. My dad," he clarified at Jack's sound of confusion, -"he was being his stupid obnoxious self again."

"Does that happen often?" – Jack was curious at the matter-of-fact tone the teenager used, dismissing the whole thing.

"All the time." – The teenager grumbled, furrowing his brows even more. – "Our neighbors probably don't use alarm clocks in the morning. Also, I heard some people comment that if there are no shouts, crashes and screams coming from the place, we're probably not home. Well, at least our dad is not home, or we're all sleeping."

"Ah,"- Jack really didn't know what to say to that. –"Any siblings?"

"Yeah, two sisters, Karin and Yuzu."- Ichigo actually smiled, his whole face softening and looking more his age. –"They are 11, fraternal twins, but as different as day and night. Yuzu keeps the house and cooks the meals, and Karin is a tomboy, that prefers playing football or watch TV at home."

"Football? Or Soccer?" – Jack asked curiously, filing the fact that the kid didn't mention his mother away for the moment. Ichigo looked at him with a frown, before it dawned on him.

"I guess, it's called soccer here," – he shrugged and looked back out the window.

"What about you? Play any sports?" –Jack probed. After all, the teen was extremely fit and walked with a grace of someone who knew how to fight and hold his own and seemed to be alert of his surroundings.

"No. Used to go to karate as a kid, now I'm more focused on my studies, especially with less than 2 years left before college,"- the answer surprisingly echoed with strange combination of pain, regret, annoyance and relief.

"You a good student?" – Ichigo threw a glance at Jack at the question, but didn't sense anything besides honest curiosity. He could understand that, as he didn't look any part of a typical image of an honor-student, far from it. With his bright orange hair, his overall build and attitude, and people mistaking him for a delinquent, he lost track of number of fights he was dragged into a long time ago. So, he shrugged.

"I'm in the top 50 school-wide," – he stopped himself from saying anything more, but on the inside he grumbled at how much work he needed to do to make up for all the classes he was forced to miss due to the Shinigami problems. –"Can you tell me, of _why_ I am here?" –He asked after a moment to dispel his sour mood and to change the topic.

"I'll bring you the documents tomorrow, if everything checks out,"- Jack said apologetically, and Ichigo hummed in understanding. The conversation halted after that and they traveled the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, with Ichigo falling asleep after a few minutes.

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><p>Ichigo woke up to Jack shaking his shoulder, saying that they were there. He yawned, got out of the car and stretched, hearing some pops in his back, before he turned around to help O'Neill with his stuff, only to see the man already walking up the steps of the hotel. He shrugged, grabbed his backpack and followed, hearing the car beep behind him as it locked. The place was nice, quiet and small; the receptionist promptly gave the key to his room smiling the whole time. His room turned out to be a single on the second floor, with a view of the street underneath. It was pretty small, and had the usual utensils like a small TV, a bar, a small table with an internet plug, and a bathroom. Jack looked around with approval, before turning to the teen:<p>

Everything seems to be in order. There are a few good places to eat and a small 7/11 store down the street. If you need anything just ask at the reception, they should be able to help you. Breakfast starts at 6:30, and I'll come by to pick you up around 8:00. Now, I'll just scram so you can settle in. Oh, if you go into town, try to keep out of trouble.

With that last bit of advice given in his cheerful tone, Jack walked out of the room to get into his car and go back to the Cheyenne Mountain for that debriefing on the teenager. The said teenager, meanwhile, looked a bit bewildered after the Colonel, then shrugged, took off his shoes, and went to explore the room. As it was a little after 6pm, he decided to take a shower, and go out for dinner, and then try to do some homework before going to sleep around 10, so he didn't screw up his biological clock too much.

Luckily, nothing went wrong with that plan, except the studying part, as his brain was too scrambled for it. Therefore, he dropped it and was fast asleep by 9 o'clock, too tired to even think about unpacking properly.

**A/N: I am using some Japanese words and ways of address because I think they reflect the meaning of some things better, and because Ichigo still thinks in Japanese.**

**Anyway, if you notice some mistakes, discrepancies, or simply want to give me an idea, pls leave a pm or review. Also, I am wondering if Ichigo should get in trouble (minor scuffle) with local bands, or with NID. And should he be curious about what the military actually does under that mountain, or decide he doesn't want to know, to avoid headache. Please drop me a line on you preferences.  
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**The next chapter: the debriefing and raised questions.**


	5. ch 4, Debriefing

AN: My apologies for long absence, but finishing Uni, writing up the paper, going on family vacation and getting a job at an oil rig with no internet connection can do that to a person. Thankfully the Summer Turnaround is over (13 hours of working 7 days a week, ugh, I was exhausted by the end of it), and I am back to normal shift work with normal hours. So, hopefully, I will have time to write.

Let me know if I have too obvious mistakes, and highlight them pls. Anyway, off we go.

Oh, and I don't own.

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ch 4: Debriefing

Jack returned to the Cheyenne Mountain with time to spare before the debrief was bound to start, which meant that he was forced to do the only thing he could for now – paperwork. He diligently dug into the pile waiting for him on the table and started … making origami. The complicated paper-folding eventually and pretty swiftly at that devolved into making paper airplanes. At least he didn't have color markers to try and make the airplanes look more 'authentic'. And what do you know? Just like that, it was time for the debrief and he avoided the trap of the evil paperwork yet again.

So it was no surprise that the man was in high spirits and walk with a spring in his step. With a loud, "How are you doing today kids?" Jack practically skipped into the debriefing room, getting various reactions from the people around. Teal'c, an alien, Jaffa, former first prime, stoic warrior that he was (and mostly used to his team leader's antics by this time), did not even deign to raise a brow in reaction, calmly sitting at his usual place at the table. Major Samantha "Sam" Carter, the 2IC, the team scientist, gave off a crisp "Sir", raising her head for a split second to acknowledge him and promptly went back to her notebook with a frown. Jonas Quinn, a new addition to the team, an alien and a refugee from the government of his native planet, gave off a confused "um?" unsure on how to respond. The airmen at the doors studiously ignored the outburst as was proper, standing at attention outside the doors. And General Hammond, an old man who was the leader of the base and a grandfather with a lot of experience with kids and unruly subordinates, especially one Jack O'Neill, barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he was stepping into the meeting room through a second door on the other end of the room. Jack pouted at them all in return (not that he will ever admit to doing so, he was a grown man, he did not pout after all).

"Major Carter?" General Hammond addressed the only woman in the room, prompting her to start the meeting.

"Sir" was a crisp military reply as Sam stood up and switched on the screen to help out her presentation with photos here and there. "As we know, one of our teams found a portion of an unknown text, which we sent for translation and had our linguistic group stomped over. Initially it was thought to be in the language of the Ancients, however that assumption was proven wrong. Moreover we were forced to resort to an outside help for the translation. We got positive replies from several, with the most noteworthy – a one Kisuke Urahara, or Urahara Kisuke as is pronounced in Asia." She brought up a picture of a blond man, approximately in his 40s, that was smiling at the camera. "Japanese, known scientist, linguist, archeologist and historian, with several patents under his name, none military or close to military in nature, as well as several scientific works, currently living in Karakura, near south coast of Japan. I managed to get my hands on some of his works, that are in open print and was thwarted from several that are classified, but all the works are on variety of topics, without a clear structure or pattern, and there are several I found quite interesting that were on…

"Major," came an exasperated soft reprimand from the General, stopping her from going on a tangent. Sam blushed, as she usually didn't go off like that, it was Daniel's thing. She felt a pang of grief at the name, before she shook it off, focusing on the data before her.

"Sorry, sir. The man himself checks out, as far as we can tell."

"As far as we can tell?" quipped Jack from his place, hastily hiding another airplane he made while listening to Carter.

"Yes, sir. Some of his file and works are classified, and as he is not an American citizen, we have no way of getting clearance from Japanese government to view them, therefore we cannot be absolutely sure. However, considering none of his open works seem to be of interest from military, defense, secret service or other similar agencies perspective, our analysts concluded that he is unlikely to be involved with any of those. He is currently running a small candy shop, living together with an assistant, 2 kids and a cat."

Considering how classified Stargate program was, the point was valid, as they did not want other governments to be clued in on the big "aliens are real and we are at war with them" revelation. Not yet, at least. Especially since Japan was not one of the countries that were currently involved in the cover up.

"What about the young man he sent in his stead? What is the connection between them?" General Hammond asked, moving to the next topic/person of interest.

Sam brought up a different photo, this time of the orange haired boy Jack had met up with at the airport earlier.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, or Kurosaki Ichigo as file states. 16, male, Japanese, straight A and B Senior High School student at Karakura High. According to file, lived his whole life in Karakura, Japan, with occasional trips to other places around the country, with school or vacation with family and friends or to visit relatives. Father, Kurosaki Isshin," she brought up a picture of a middle aged man with black hair and dark brown eyes, a trimmed black beard and a serious expression, "medical doctor, runs his own small clinic from home," a picture with a 2-story house and a blue hanging in Japanese (with the translation stating "Karakura Clinic, Pediatrics" added underneath the words) next to a side door was shown at those words, "Travels around a lot, mostly for medical conferences in Tokyo and other cities, usually doesn't leave for longer than a week or two. Mother, Kurosaki Masaki," here a picture of a laughing woman was shown, with light brown hair and light brown eyes, "finished the same medical University as Mr. Kurosaki, deceased 9 years ago." That sent a jolt of surprise among the people sitting the room. "Twin sisters, Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki," a picture of two vastly different girls switched on, a solemn girl with black hair and black eyes and a smiling girl with light brown hair and brown eyes, "11, both currently in primary school, scheduled to start Middle school next semester, in other words, this April-May, as school term starts in spring in Japan."

"A pretty normal and average family, huh," was Jack's comment. Carter nodded in agreement and continued.

"We are pretty sure that Mr. Kurosaki knows Mr. Urahara through his father, as those two have crossed paths several times, and seem to be drinking friends. Our analytical group decided to dig into the elder Kurosaki's life and came up with a few blanks early in his life around the same time as Mr. Urahara's, but nothing outright suspicious or classified."

General Hammond hummed thoughtfully at that statement: "Anything else?"

Sam frowned at her files, making the other people in the room tense up and get more attentive, though it would not be apparent to those who did not know thes people.

"Our analysts came up with something that they did not know how to interpret due to lack of official or any other reliable, for that matter, information. According to them, there was a series of strange activities going on in Karakura between a year and a half and two years ago."

"Aliens?" was tense question voiced by Jack.

"No, sir. Officially they were labeled under 'terrorist attacks'."

"But?" – this time it was Jonas Quinn who prompted her, more curious that apprehensive, hearing the pause due his experience in holding negotiations and doing reports and dealing with politicians. Sam made a frustrated sound.

"Most of the incidents can be interpreted as actual terrorist attacks, but no organization ever claimed credit for them. And there were a couple of reports that do not match, like people stating that they heard awful screeching or howling sounds right before the explosions occurred, no explosives found at the sites, and there are even reports from people that they woke up with the city surrounded by trees and mountains, and no the ones that usually surround it, though they failed to provide a better description. Those last reports coincide with a period of time, when all contact was lost with the town for several hours."

"And nobody got interested in the goings on?"

"No, sir. The official statement was that everything had been under control and there had been no reason for alarm, with no specifics given. Actually, that was answer given to those who requested the information; otherwise it was ignored as a 'didn't happen' event."

"Curious," Jack's drawled.

"Indeed," Teal'c inclined his head in agreement.

"As interesting and worrying as all that is, how is it related to our discussion?" General Hammond steered the conversation back on track, too used by now that no matter how unrelated different facts seemed to be, there was a reason they were brought up. His people were too good to go on random tangents. Unless they were the scientists, or under influence of another alien drug, or messed with, or… Okay, so it could be a random note, however, it was highly probable that it was not. He would go with that assumption for sanity's sake.

"Um, oh, yes sir," he could be mistaken, but Sam seemed to flush a bit at the gentle prod to get back on topic. "There was no direct relation per se, except all these happenings suspiciously coincide with Mr. Kurosaki missing or cutting classes or completely vanishing without notice for several days at a time. And no, sir," she continued before anyone could voice it, "people didn't find it suspicious at all, as Mr. Kurosaki has quite a reputation despite his good grades."

"Reputation?" Jonas inquired mildly.

"With hair and looks like that?" Jack haphazardly waved at the photo of the boy displayed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was pegged as a troublemaker and get into a lot of fights. He has orange hair, for God's sake." O'Neill exclaimed, and was met with a raised eyebrow from Teal'c and mild look of confusion from Jonas.

"And how the color of his hair is related to anything?" Quinn voiced the question.

"Japanese people are predominantly dark haired and dark eyed, some even say they have black hair and eyes. So people with a different hair colors usually stand out," Sam jumped to explain before Jack could say anything. Before she could continue her explanation, her notebook beeped and she concentrated on it, opening received files, before straightening with an excited air about her. "Our analysts just found another interesting tidbit of information on Mr. Kurosaki. Apparently there is a police report, filed around the end of the 'incidents' happening. Karakura High and Kurosaki Clinic suffered an explosion almost simultaneously. In particular, it was Mr. Kurosaki's class-room that was targeted just as the classes were about to start. Several students were injured at the school and witnesses and victims stated that Mr. Kurosaki and his friends were helping out at the site. Shortly after a very agitated Mr. Kurosaki was accepted to the Karakura Central Hospital with an injured Karin in his arms. He was visibly restraining himself to stay with his sister and the Doctors stated that the first words he uttered to her when she regained consciousness were "I swear I will bring her back", which they found peculiar until someone remembered that there were supposed to be 3 siblings, so one of the sisters was missing. The police was immediately notified of the possible kidnapping on top of the terrorist attack. When the assigned policemen went to take an official statement from Mr. Kurosaki, they heard shouting from the room assigned to him and his friends. Something along the lines of "I will destroy those bastards", "nobody messes with MY friends and family" and demanding someone in the room if they knew the way or not. The policemen state in their report that they dismissed all the shouting as the typical reaction of a teenager, with all the usual bravado and jumping into the fray without second thought or actually leaving it to those whose job it was to chaise the criminals. However, when they were at the doors, the utter conviction of the words pronounced in low tones scared them. They quote he said: "even if I condemn my soul to Hell, I will protect them", and when they barged into the room, was absent, though there were no other doors, and the room was situated way too high for someone to jump out of the window, never mind that it was closed. A couple of days later, there was an unexplained phenomenon at sunrise, with people stating that they saw Gates of Hell, and massive explosion followed with a river of fire in the sky and feeling like they were touched by 'evil'. Same day Mr. Isshin Kurosaki stated that Ms. Yuzu Kurosaki was retrieved, but was in a vegetative state, no visible injuries to account for her mental state and had low chances of waking up, and Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki himself was heavily sedated due to a break-down, and the matter was out of the local police jurisdiction. Two days later, the atmosphere in the clinic lifted up considerably, and it was stated that Ms. Yuzu Kurosaki miraculously drifted into mild coma instead of her previous condition, so there was a high chance that she will eventually wake up. And a week later, she did, and had no recollection of anything happening at all. Her only statement to the school councilor was that she was at home, making lunch, and the next thing she knew she was waking up in the morning and Karin was putting up a big fuss like she was ill. And even if she was kidnapped and all, she heard her big brother calling her, and she knows that he will never allow anything bad to happen to her, and that was that. The Kurosaki family went about their business as usual, and their usual 'weirdness', whatever _that _means." Sam finished reading the file in a perplexed voice. Before she could look around to see the expressions of other people in the room, she got another message, which she read and then turned bewildered to her superior. "It says here, that a couple of weeks later, Mr. Kurosaki himself dropped into a coma for a month, with no alarms voiced by either friends and family, who were actually quoted saying "don't worry, he will wake up in a month", which he did." Her announcement was met with a silence, everyone trying to digest the report and the unexpected twist.

Finally it was Jack who interrupted it with a whistle and a muttered "Damn." A second later he prodded, "And there was no investigation, no follow-up, no file with a 'classified' stamped on it?"

Sam went back to her computer, eventually shaking her head in negative, "No, Sir. Not that we could find, but considering it is not our country and not our jurisdiction and all…" She trailed off. "Well, we can only ask Mr. Kurosaki himself."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen." Jack answered sullenly.

"Why?" Jonas inquired. Jack ignored him completely. It was surprisingly Teal'c who answered, "He might not be at liberty to answer, same of O'Neill cannot tell." General Hammond pinched the bridge of his nose, practically feeling his headache approaching. "Bottom line, Major. Can we use his services?"

"Sir, yes, sir," was a crisp reply. "The analysts concluded that whatever had been happening is already over, and Mr. Kurosaki was collateral damage. There is a very small possibility that he _migh_t be contacted after becoming a legal adult or after or during University studies. However, without knowing the circumstances, it is quite impossible to predict."

"So," Jack clapped his hands, bringing attention to himself, "we are good to go, right? So, what do I bring the kid? Some papers, books, rocks?"

"We will provide him with the tablet we are in possession of, to confirm his ability to translate it, yes."

"Buuut?" Jack drawled narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Sam winced and Jonas looked down at his notes.

"If he checks out, we will have to take him to the original site, sir."

"So, let me get this straight," Jack raised a hand, "if the kid can read whatever scrabbles there are on a piece of stone, we will take him to an excursion to another side of the galaxy so he could look at some rocks and tell us what's on them?" Sam nodded. "This is getting better and better. Anything else we need to know?" Jack looked around the room, daring them to spring another 'surprise', and almost groaned when General Hammond cleared his throat.

"Actually, there is." Jack could swear he could see twinkles of mirth in General's eyes. "By end of it all, he should know nothing about what we do, and about the Stargate."

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Hopefully this makes up for the long wait at list a bit, and thank you all the people who left reviews and reminded me that they are waiting for updates.

I really appreciated them. So pls R&R?

Cheerio

AN2: oops, I was planning to double check if Sam was a Major by this time or not, but forgot *sheepish*. anyway, fixed that and a few grammar mistakes, added a couple of words to clarify matters, let me know if you catch anything else. next chapter is in works

AN3: Sam jumps around promouncing their names like Kurosaki Ichigo and then Yuzu Kurosaki because she tries to keep it as Asian people usually pronounce their names (family name then first name), but then simply shifts to the order she is used to (first name, then last name). This name positions will be jumped around depending in who is saying the name in later chapters too


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